How to avoid online Russian woman scams

Men all across the globe lust for Russian ladies. However, seeking for love on the internet is a dangerous game. Especially if she originally approached you.
Alyona, a 26-year-old blonde stunner from St. Petersburg with clean light complexion and piercing gray eyes, was her name. Last April, Mark, 37, met her on the Badoo dating app while planning a brief vacation to Russia. Despite the fact that he lived in Lyon, he altered his geolocation to St. Petersburg in order to meet some Russian ladies before moving to the nation. The initial communication was sent by Alyona.

“I’m looking for a long-term and loving relationship,” it said. Mark was taken aback, but continued the chat, recalling, “She was quite attractive and amusing.”

They spoke on Badoo for a week before switching to WhatsApp. She sent him pictures of herself eating pizza with friends and sipping coffee by the river, as well as a couple selfies on the couch. They discussed Russia, literature, Mark’s favorite sport, hockey, and travel. Alyona had never been outside of the country, it turned out. She often expressed her desire to travel but never got the chance since it was too costly for Russians, she said.

Mark proposed a meeting in St. Petersburg two weeks later. She said, however, that she had to see her grandma in Rostov at this time. “I was agitated.” But I was willing to alter my plans. ” I had a thing for her. So he requested if he might call her, but Alyona said that there were many “connection issues.” She’d already referred to him as “possibly my destiny” a handful of times at this point. She requested that he provide her €500 for a new phone or fix her old one so that she could hear his voice. Alyona barred Mark on WhatsApp and removed him from Badoo when he refused. Then he gone.

Women who have a habit of “things going wrong”

Shapeways/Flickr
What was it, exactly? Opportunism? No, it’s simply romantic scamming, a typical sort of online fraud in which a cybercriminal “falls in love” with their victim and then has “money issues” with them. Alyona was most likely not in the photos. Scammers often steal images from websites. It’s also possible that “Alyona” was not a woman. Scammers just exploit Russian ladies as bait to empty the coffers of unsuspecting Western guys.

The numbers are self-evident. According to Russian television, Australian males transfer $25 million to fraudsters in Russia and other ex-Soviet nations every year (mostly Ukraine and Belarus). Men in the United States paid a comparable amount, followed by men in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

If evidence were required, here is it: the old cons are still the best: “A Russian lady approached me and requested that I create an account at my bank. She said that she want to make a deposit. She wants me to withdraw the money and send it to her as soon as she does. Is this a ruse?” was the title of a Quora question. Yes, absolutely. How often have you requested that a total stranger from another nation create a bank account for you?

Pexels/Voice of Oara
Even inexperienced con artists have the ability to persuade. “A few weeks later, a Russian lady called Karine Popova sent me emails with images, little films, and a pleasant discussion. Whenever I am able to react. Meanwhile, she claims she doesn’t use social media, that she works from a mobile phone that is restricted for international calls, that she writes to me from her work computer, that her computer is malfunctioning, and so on. I’m fairly certain they’re con artists; I’m just not sure how they make the photographs and videos seem so authentic,” writes Russia Beyond reader Wander Och.

Scheme to make money

Few fraudsters work alone, therefore it’s not unexpected that they can fake images and even talk on the internet. “It makes sense if you know the language and want to earn some money. Go on dates, translate or compose messages. “It’s simply a side profession for me, and it’s sometimes extremely lucrative,” writes Angelika on a site dedicated to finding a foreign husband/boyfriend/sponsor. She reveals that female con artists receive a cut of the proceeds.